BACKGROUND: We evaluated safety and performance of the Harpoon Mitral Valve Repair System (H-MVRS), a transesophageal echocardiographic-guided device designed to implant artificial expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) cords on mitral leaflets in the beating heart. METHODS: In a prospective multicenter study, 30 consecutive patients with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR) were treated with H-MVRS via small left thoracotomy. The primary (30 day) endpoint was successful implantation of cords with MR reduction to moderate or less...

BACKGROUND: Stress echocardiography (SE) is widely used in Europe. No collective data have been available on the use of SE in Poland until now. AIM: To evaluate the number of SE investigations performed in Poland, their settings, complications and results. METHODS: In this retrospective survey, referral cardiology centers in Poland were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding SE examinations performed from May 01, 2014 to May 01, 2015. RESULTS: The study included data from 17 university hospitals and large community hospitals which performed 4611 SE examinations, including 4408 tests in patients investigated for coronary artery disease (CAD) and 203 tests to evaluate valvular heart disease (VHD)...

Development and innovation of new technologies are necessary especially in food quality; due that most instrumental technique for measuring quality properties involves a considerable amount of manual work. Image analysis is a technique that allows to provide objective evaluations from digitalized images that can estimate quality parameters for consumer's acceptance. The aim of the present research was to study the effect of freeze drying on the microstructure and texture of legume and vegetables using scanning electron microscopy at different magnifications' combined with image analysis...

DNA methylation loss can produce inheritable active epialleles in plants. The mechanism involved in the stable transmission of hypomethylated epimuations is presently not clear. Here we show that maintenance of a stably hypomethylated active epiallele in rice required a CHD3 protein (CHR729) and that over-expression of an H3K4me3 demethylase (JMJ703) or H3K27me3 methyltransferase (SDG711) could stably resilence the epiallele. CHR729 and JMJ703 have antagonistic function in H3K4me3 in maintaining the active state of the epiallele, whereas SDG711-mediated H3K27me3 was sufficient to stably repress the locus...

INTRODUCTION: Treatment with fixed orthodontic appliances requires the application of adhesive systems to enable secure fastening of brackets and retainers to the surface of tooth enamel. The orthodontic bonding systems are similar in terms of chemical composition to dental filling materials, the chemical stability of which is not satisfactory. Particularly alarming is the release of bisphenol A and its derivatives to the external environment, which has been well-documented for materials used in conservative dentistry...

There is a burgeoning literature on first-episode psychosis, the focus of which is early intervention. Little emphasis has been placed on the responses of young people to their experiences of psychosis. This study, therefore, aimed to describe and explain the responses of young people to their first episode of psychosis. Data obtained from ten young people who attended a community early intervention recovery program in Perth Western Australia were analysed using a grounded theory method. The results revealed that the basic psychosocial problem experienced by participants was loss of control resulting in disrupted lives and that the core variable, harnessing resilience, accounted for most of the variance in their behaviour to overcome this problem...

We show that all macroscopic quantum superpositions (MQS) based on phase-covariant quantum cloning are characterized by an anomalous high resilence to the decoherence processes. The analysis supports the results of recent MQS experiments and leads to conceive a useful conjecture regarding the realization of complex decoherence-free structures for quantum information, such as the quantum computer.

The different coping responses to three types of aversive events - future threats, acute events and chronic stress - may be modulated by 5HT projections. Dysfunction in these coping mechanisms could cause, respectively: generalised anxiety disorder, panic, and depression. This theory proposes that dorsal raphe nucleus projections to 5HT(2) and 5HT(1D) receptors mediate anticipatory anxiety and normally motivate avoidance of threats. The brain aversion system may be held in check by dorsal raphe nucleus 5HT projections to mediate behavioural inhibition during anticipatory anxiety...

BACKGROUND: Quality of life is dynamic, fluctuating and resilent; it has both positive and negative attributes and is influenced by personal and social expectations. However, it is difficult to measure the experience in a way that is clinically relevant and useful. METHODS: The author examined the literature relating to the assessment and measurement of quality of life as influenced by oral health. RESULTS: It is difficult to interpret the clinical relevance of measurements from questionnaires or structured interviews that use predetermined response options to indicate health-related quality of life...

PURPOSE: To study the influence on the abutment movement with three kinds of precision attachments designed for distal-extension removable partial dentures (RPDs). METHODS: Snap attachment, Ceka attachment, Mini-SG attachment were used to retain RPDs. Then food chip was masticated between the upper and lower dentitions on the attachments side. Placement of abutment was measured by LB-72 high-sensitive-laser-traneferring-detector and the data were statistically analyzed for random block analysis of variance...

A strong association exists between states of chronic inflammation and cancer, and it is believed that mediators of inflammation may be responsible for this phenomenon. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is an inflammatory cytokine known to play a role in the growth and survival of many types of tumors, yet the mechanisms employed by this pleomorphic cytokine to accomplish this feat are still poorly understood. Another important factor in tumor development seems to be the hypermethylation of CpG islands located within the promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes...

The study on the effects of long-term suboptimal temperature (T1) and short-term low temperature (T2) under low light density on cucumber seedling's growth and its photosynthesis showed that the growth speed, photosynthetic rate (Pn), carboxylation efficiency (CE), apparent quantum yield (AQY) and actual quantum yield of P(S II) electron transport (phi(PS II)) all declined remarkably, and the photochemical efficiency of PS II (Fnu/Fm) also decreased to some extent. The decreasing extents of Pn, CE and AQY of T1 were less than those of T2, while the recovery rate of T1 was slower than that of T2...

A traditional approach for examining brain-behavior relations has been the lesion method. This method assumes a direct correspondence between the cognitive process compromised and the site of lesion. Historically, studies with adults have used this framework to map brain functions. In contrast, studies of children with early injury have addressed quite different issues. Developmental animal lesion studies and pediatric neuropsychology studies have focused on the level of plasticity exhibited following early injury...

A study of chief executives identified the ability to prioritize, clear vision, resilence, and willingness to take decisions as key factors in success. Some wanted more active involvement from the regional director. Chief executives could be subject to 360-degree assessment. More work is needed to establish the compatibility of chief executives and chairs.

This study examines the impact of group identification and social context on willingness to participate in industrial protest. Trade union members (N = 313) completed a survey indicating their willingness to participate in union activities, their perceptions of the union and its role, and their attitudes toward present and former governments. Three independent conditions defined the union and its activities in different ways: either (a) referring to conflict with the present government, (b) referring to this conflict together with the government's threat to the union, or (c) presenting no additional information (a control condition)...

The erythrocyte membrane's ability to withstand the stresses of circulation has its origins in various levels of structural organization. Central to this membrane's structure-function relationships is a quasi-two-dimensional meshwork of spectrin-actin-protein 4.1 that imparts a resilence to the overlying plasma membrane. New insights into the nonlinear microelasticity of this substructure are being provided by experiments that range from elegant atomic force microscopy tests of single spectrin chains to patterned photobleaching of the micropipette-deformed network...

The physicomechanical properties of films of different thicknesses, made from methylcellulose and gelatinized maize starch, have been studied in tension. There was a linear relation between film thickness and tensile strength, toughness, elastic resilence and elongation at fracture. Young's modulus increased with decreasing film thickness particularly with films with a thickness of less than 15 micron.